The terms “laptop”, “laptop computer”, “notebook” and “notebook computer”, as broadly employed herein, should be understood to be interchangeable with one another and to broadly relate to essentially any type of portable computer as commonly understood in connection with any or all of those four terms.
Laptops, owing to their portability, easily lend themselves to theft or unauthorized removal (e.g., from a workplace setting) if concerted measures are not otherwise taken to mitigate such a likelihood.
Conventional arrangements have been developed that permit a laptop to transmit certain information such at its IP (Internet Protocol) address and its MAC (Media Access Control) address, after theft or removal, it is connected over a wireless or hard-wired Ethernet or Internet device. One such arrangement is the “COMPUTRACE” software manufactured by Absolute Software of Vancouver, BC, Canada (http://www.computrace.com) Additional information about a transmitted IP address(es) at the time of transmission may be obtained from the internet service provider (ISP) to whom the IP address is assigned or through various geolocation providers such as MaxMind LLC of Boston, Mass., United States (http://www.maxmind.com/app/ip-location). Obtaining the information from an ISP may invoke various privacy interests and require the assistance of law enforcement or judicial intervention. Additional information about a transmitted IP address(es), however, normally does not necessarily afford an accurate fix on the location of the laptop, meaning that recovery can be elusive or, at the very least, difficult. It will also be appreciated that accurately locating a laptop can be of assistance in locating an individual who needs to be found or traced for a variety of reasons (e.g., in a weather-related emergency, in connection with the elopement of a minor or abduction of an individual, etc.).
Accordingly, a need has been recognized in connection with providing a more accurate and reliable method of determining an initially unknown location of a laptop.